As many marketers begin their content marketing journey, they quickly wonder what level of commitment is required. How often should we blog? What level of downloadable content is necessary to support an effective contact marketing strategy? How often do we need to refresh content on our website to get Google’s attention?
It’s almost hard to remember the day when digital marketing just began to get traction. Think back to ten or fifteen years ago. What digital lead generation techniques did companies use to bring users to their websites and attract customers? In many cases, banner advertising seemed like one of the only options to drive new web traffic digitally.
Email is one of the most effective and most common channels marketers are using today. With so many marketers using email marketing, what are the current email trends, stats and facts? What are the best days of the week for driving engagement, opens and click-throughs? Are those the same days that deliver the highest ROI? How often do consumers check their email? Do those who engage with an email spend more? We’ve compiled a list of stats that can help you understand the current state of email marketing. Check out these 10 incredible emails facts and stats.
Mobile optimized emails are becoming a must. Mobile optimized emails lead to increased conversion rates and are a user expectation. Marketers not mobile optimizing their emails are likely suffering from compromised open rates, click-through rates and conversions. Mobile optimized emails are simply becoming a requirement for any email marketing effort. Here are facts that underscore the importance of ensuring you’re delivering mobile optimized emails.
Content marketing is one of the leading sources of generating website traffic. When content marketing is analytically keywords-driven, it is a proven source of search engine optimized page rankings. Content marketing can also play an important role in social media. Content marketing can serve as a vehicle for giving prospects and customers reasons to interact with your brand. While social media can help build awareness and relationships, it can also serve as an important conduit for driving education, engagement and action.
Many people would argue direct marketing is on the decline. The reality is, however, that the principles and best practices of direct marketing are becoming more commonplace. Technology is enabling direct marketing principles to be applied to a myriad of channels. As a result, direct marketing best practices are currently being utilized in many measurable channels across a number of different industries. Examples include call-to-action buttons in email, limited-time retail offers and retargeted banner ads based on web user behavior. These are all current channels leveraging the tried and true direct marketing best practices.
Small and medium businesses are underserved by many utility and energy marketers. Large commercial and industrial businesses carry a significant load and often have face-to-face sales resources. Residential customers often have an abundance of resources and communications attention. But often utilities have a less defined plan and set of executional tactics for small and medium businesses. This often results in larger gaps in customer satisfaction and a lack of participation in utility and energy marketers’ programs.
Content marketing can be a key driver in ensuring that your company’s website ranks better through search engines. Content marketing includes ebooks, downloads, blog articles, checklists, videos and web pages. This is the optimal type of content that will support SEO/keyword analytics. Content development requires specialized techniques to maximize the necessity for quality and quantity. Simple web pages that simply deliver streamlined copy, around 200 to 300 words, don’t qualify as content marketing, and don’t necessarily have a strong positive impact on search engine optimization.
Marketing to small and medium businesses requires different approaches than marketing to large businesses. While owning a company is the American dream for many people, that dream takes an enormous amount of work. Understanding the challenges that small and medium businesses face daily can help marketers shape their communications accordingly. Here are a few of the things you should keep in mind when you're communicating with small businesses.
Many utilities are faced with a number of challenges. How do we get more customers to use our online tools for managing their bills, account information or understanding their energy usage? How do we educate and engage our customers in energy management? How do we engage customers to provide email addresses if they aren’t engaged with an online tool? How can we leverage communications to solidify our position in the marketplace?
